Distance
by luxluminaire
Summary: When Riza ends up in Roy's room late at night, she expects him to be hard at work at his alchemy studies. She doesn't expect him to be in the midst of making a decision that will alter his course in life forever.


Riza is accustomed to seeing the dim light shining from under the door of the bedroom next to hers late in the night, whenever she happens to pass by on her way to the bathroom or to get a glass of water. Most of the time, it's because her father's alchemy apprentice has fallen asleep in the middle of a late-night work session and has left the lamp burning. Riza sees it as her duty, then, to quietly slip into the bedroom and extinguish the light for him. If anything else, she does this because she doesn't particularly wish to read the newspaper headlines that will inevitably result from her not doing so: "Young Alchemist Roy Mustang Burns Down the Hawkeye Estate Due to Carelessness and Neglect."

It's nearing three-thirty in the morning one day when Riza, returning from the bathroom, sees the telltale light under the door. With a sigh, she quietly eases open the door. She's become quite skilled at opening doors without being noticed since the days when she would sneak into the library to watch her father work. She would never dare to actually interrupt his work, and so she had been forced to watch him from a distance, silently entering the room and concealing herself behind a bookcase. Those times were the moments where she could pretend that she was spending time with her father, the man who even now rarely speaks to her outside of stilted conversation over dinner about how her studies are going.

She expects to see Roy asleep at his desk yet again, but to her surprise he is fully awake, writing something down on a sheet of paper. A mug of coffee sits beside him, and he lifts it up to take a drink. Not wanting to disturb him, Riza turns and begins to shut the door just as soundlessly as she had opened it. As she shifts her weight, however, a floorboard beneath her feet squeaks. A nervous breath hitches in her throat, and she knows that he has noticed her. He leaps up from his seat, almost overturning his coffee mug in the process. He relaxes, though, once his eyes fixate on her. "Oh," he says. "It's just you." There is a pause, and then he adds, "You should be in bed."

"I could say the same to you. It's three-thirty in the morning."

Roy rubs his forehead wearily with his hand. "Damn. Is it really that late?" He takes another swig of coffee.

Riza hesitantly takes a few steps further into the room to see what he's working on. She expects to see books taken from her father's library, accompanied by notes on alchemical formulas and complex transmutation arrays, but instead his attention is focused on a single stack of papers. At the top of the page she sees the Amestrian crest, but Roy's left hand (perhaps conveniently) covers most of the rest of the page. "I saw the light under your door and thought that you'd fallen asleep working again," she says.

"No," he replies. "Not this time."

"But you're not really doing work right now, are you?" She can't think of any work that he would be doing for her father that would involve what looks like paperwork from the government. It certainly wouldn't have anything to do with the state alchemists, especially because her father has made his hatred of them quite well-known.

Roy sighs. "I suppose if I have to tell anyone about it right now, it would be you." He moves his hand, and she peers over his shoulder to get a clear look at the paper that he had been writing on before she entered. Her heart almost leaps into her throat when she recognizes what it is: an application to the state military academy. She sees that he has already filled out most of the first sheet of the application—_Last name: Mustang, First name: Roy, Date of Birth: 17 February 1885..._

"You're going to enter the military?" It's a pointless question to ask, since the forms speak for themselves, but she wants to hear the confirmation from him.

He nods. "I was going to keep it hidden for as long as possible. Most of all from your father."

Yes, her father certainly isn't going to take kindly to the news when he inevitably finds out. "Why are you doing this?" she asks. "I thought you were happy studying alchemy under my father."

"Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my time here over the past several years. Master Hawkeye has taught me more about alchemy than I could have ever dreamed of. But..." He trails off, his face set into an expression of determination. "Things are beginning to happen in this country. I'm sure you've heard about the increased border disputes that have been happening over the past year or so. I can't just sit here reading books when I could be out there protecting those who are in trouble."

"Are you going to become a state alchemist, then?" Riza is not liking where this is going. She doesn't even want to think about how her father is going to react when he finds out that not only is his apprentice planning on leaving, but he is doing so to become a dog of the military.

"That's the plan eventually," says Roy. "I want to prove myself as an ordinary soldier first. Besides, if I were to take the state alchemy exam right now, I probably wouldn't be successful. I can't deny that I've excelled at all the rudimentary concepts of alchemy, but obtaining a state alchemist license often requires the display of something special. Something that sets you apart from other alchemists. Like Master Hawkeye's flame alchemy."

The memory of the needle etching the results of her father's research into her back surfaces to the forefront of Riza's mind. "He'd never allow you to use flame alchemy to become a state alchemist," she says. "He doesn't want such a dangerous skill to enter the military."

"I know. One of the two things that he explicitly forbade me to do when he accepted me as his apprentice was to become a dog of the military." Roy sighs, looking weary. It's only now that Riza remembers that it's the middle of the night. "But even if I have to do it as an ordinary soldier, I still want to protect this country. We alchemists live by the statement of 'be thou for the people.' I can't think of a better way to help the people of Amestris than to keep them safe."

His expression is still set in determination, and in the years that she has known him she knows that if Roy Mustang wants to achieve something, it will be achieved. She is still not happy with the prospect of him leaving, though. Having him in the house for the past few years while he studies under her father has been such a comfort, and she's not sure that she's ready to return to the loneliness of being alone with the father who only recognizes her as the carrier of his research. "When you leave..." She trails off, shifting her gaze down to her feet. "I'll miss you being around."

She hears his chair moving against the wooden floor as he stands up. "Yeah. I'll miss you too." He takes a few steps closer to her, and she lifts her head up to meet his eyes. "I know you'll be all right, though. You're stronger than you know, Riza."

It's the first time that she's heard him call her by her first name. Even though they're only within a couple years of each other's ages, her father has still insisted on them addressing each other formally: to her, he would be Mr. Mustang, and to him, she would be Miss Hawkeye. Of course, after knowing him for so long she can't help but refer to him as "Roy" in her head, even if she doesn't dare to break the habit of formal spoken address.

He hesitates, and then he reaches out a hand toward her. His fingers run their way through her bangs, brushing them away from her forehead. Riza wonders if she's dreaming. She's not exactly infatuated with Roy or anything, but she can't deny that he's matured over the years, growing up into a handsome young man of eighteen. He's perhaps the only friend she has had in her life, and such a tender gesture coming from him means the world to her.

"Roy," she whispers, and the feeling of his name on her lips is perhaps even more intimate than his touch.

It's a mutual movement when the two of them lean close, their lips brushing together. The kiss is brief, but it sends a spark through her. When she pulls away from him, she finds herself breathless.

"'Don't do anything to my daughter,'" Roy murmurs to himself.

"What?"

"The second thing that Master Hawkeye forbade me to do when I became his apprentice," he explains. "The first was to not use my knowledge of alchemy to become a state alchemist. The second..." His eyes avert from hers. "The second was to not even think about starting anything with you."

Riza should have expected that her father would order that. He's very strict with her, and if she didn't know better she would think it is out of some kind of protective love. The only time her father has shown any semblance of love to her, though, was probably closer to emotional manipulation: _If you love me, Riza, and if you want my research to succeed, you will do this for me_.

"We can't ever do this again, then," she says.

She expects him to protest to this; she's certainly wishing that she doesn't have to say these words. Instead, he simply nods in agreement. "I know. If I'm going to go against one of your father's wishes I might as well not betray both of them."

"And you're going to be gone soon anyway," she adds. It pains her to think that once the paperwork goes through and he goes to the military academy, she may never see him again. "It wouldn't be wise to start anything in the first place."

He nods again. A moment of hesitation passes between the two of them, and then he says, "Once I leave for the military academy, it won't be goodbye. I know I'll find a way to see you again." He touches her face again in a surprisingly tender motion. "I promise you."

"I'll hold you to that." She holds his gaze for a moment, and then she walks toward the door. Before she leaves, she says one last thing to him. "Please try to get some sleep, Mr. Mustang."

The distance between them has been established once more. "You too," Roy replies, and she can almost hear his unspoken address of "Riza" upon his lips. He does not say her name, though, and instead he returns to his desk, filling in the paperwork starting from where he'd left off.

She quietly closes the door behind her as she leaves, and she knows it will be only a matter of time before their separation from each other will feel like forever.


End file.
